Raiders S Charles Woodson talks of his team’s free agent class and the `crazy’ vibe going on in the building

Raiders safety Charles Woodson talked with a few reporters Saturday night in a brief interview before a dinner honoring him as the winner of the club’s Commitment to Excellence award. Woodson talked about the new free agent class, missing out on Ndamukong Suh and his optimism regarding the Raiders future. A transcription:

Q: Free agents said you have been on the recruiting trail, helping bring some guys in?

Woodson: I met a few of the guys over at the Raiders facility. I think when I got to them most of them were just about signed. Just welcomed them to the Raiders, but I think we got some quality guys that are coming to help us. Just want to congratulate them coming over to the Raiders. Looking forward to the future.

Q: Such a dramatic overhaul to the coaching staff, the guy you lobbied for came back, a couple of quality control guys, other than that all different. Haven’t played for any of them yet, but what kind of vibe are you getting? The free agents seem pretty fired up . . .

Woodson: From what I’ve seen so far, the vibe is crazy right now. A lot of positive energy coming from everybody in there. The great part about it is you have a lot of ex-players, so I think that energy is kind of innately there, because you have a lot of fiery guys, a lot of guys that have played in the NFL at a high level so they have that natural energy. So it’s been. It’s been great to talk to ’em and kind of see their vision. I think it’s going to be a great year for us.

Q: You think you could be good, like, right now?

Woodson: For me, man, I don’t see it any other way. I don’t look at it any other way. It doesn’t matter where I’ve been or what it looks like. Any season I’ve gone to I’m looking at winning the Super Bowl. I feel good about the direction. I do feel good about where things have gone so far in free agency and also with the coaches. I think the season is going to be a lot of fun.

Q: Last year you played kind of a waiting game, weren’t sure if they wanted you back, this year they moved quick. You were back right away, was that something that was told to you before end of the season?

Woodson: It wasn’t told to me before then, but that was something that was stressed. I didn’t want to wait around. If we were going to do it, get it done now, and then I would know. So we got it done quickly and I’m happy about that. I think it says a lot about how I went out there this year and played the game, for them to want me back, to get it done quickly. So I’m proud of that.

Q: Excited about Ken and Jack about defense and scheme are you excited? Nate Allen talked about playing fast . . keep it simple, play fast . . .is that how you expect it to go?

Woodson: I think so. I think that’s going to be the key to bringing in a lot of different faces is keeping things faces and seeing things and not worrying about too much. You can go out there and play football because the game is not going to be moving too fast for you. Not trying to worry about what the other team is going to do, just worrying about what you’re going out there to do because you’ve practiced whatever it is over and over and over again. If you can go out there and do that, you’ll be fine.

Q: Fan base looks from the outside and says, we didn’t get Suh, we didn’t get Murray, and it seems like there’s decent part and spent a lot of money, but not the big splash names. Fromw hat you see, are you OK with what you’re bringing in?

Woodson: Yeah, I mean. There’s no question that Suh would have been huge. He would have been huge. He would have been a great addition to the team. But at the same time, if you don’t get a Suh, you can get three or four other players to make up for it. And what that does is build depth. So you bring in guys that are possibly starters, that will compete for a starting job, and then we’ve still got money to get three or four other guys. Then you’ve got the draft coming up. So you have the potential to build the team the way you want to. Just because you didn’t get the one guy, we’ll have the opportunity to build this team the right way and that’s what Reggie’s looking at.

Use Schaub’s dollars to resign Wisniewski.
Reggie needs to show that he is willing to resign Raiders.
Our OLine would elite with Wisniewski at guard; especially the interior.
Penn Wiz/Gabe Hudson Gabe/Wiz Howard/Watson
we would probably get at least a 4th for Watson in a trade; but I would hope we retain him at this point; remembering he now has two years NFL experience; this season with Tice as OLine coach

JLofty

The reason is its a moving average. Tough to bump a 4yr average in one year. Before 2015 we were avg .82. Thus needing a .95 for remaining two years.
Plus the $$$ just goes to the NFLPA to dispurse to players from 13 and 14. So you paying for players who either are no longer on the roster but certainly aren’t helping you win games going forward…
I’d rather pay someone NOW to play in 2015 then pay Darrell Blackstock and co. MORE for their no longer in the NFL retirement…

Dan78

WR in waiting…

SilverandBlack760

I don’t think that Wiz wants to come back

JLofty

I’ll comb the archives. Didn’t pop in a few google searches….

Al_is_theraiders

reggie on Dennis Allen:

McKenzie: I think, from a standpoint of big picture, he gets it. He’s always a step ahead, which is good. I like the way the players are responding. And his assistant coaches. He’s all over that defense, which I like. That’s good. He’s talking to the offense, too, he’s not just all defense, but he’s acting like a real head coach. You can’t tell he hasn’t been a head coach before.

BigBenRexor

Ross

BigBenRexor

Brisel

BigBenRexor

Austin Howard

DutchRaid

Signed as a QB…according to the reports I saw.

Michael

A 4th? Highly doubt that man. He is a project player who gets hurt. And hasn’t shown flashes of being dominant when healthy. I don’t see us able to get more than what mike Wallace and Brandon Marshall are fetching

RAY NJ

A 4th for Watson? I wouldn’t give you a 4 iron. I’d take a 4th in a heartbeat.

you are naming people that Weg moved on from, you should add Wiz to the list then.

RAY NJ

Should be somewhere around Turkey by now.

AlDavisJr

New post—

RaiderDAV

LOL wow he really did say that Huh? oh Mumbles

Gdog

Even if BR is right, and Reggie wants to pay Carr and Mack the money, wouldn’t it make more sense to pay OTHER players the money to help them?

The dysfunction has no bottom…

AutumnThunderstorm

TE: Rivera, Smith with Kasa, Leonhardt, and Simonsen in reserve = we’re okay
RB: Murray, Reece, Helu, Atkinson III, Olawalie = we’re okay
CB: Hayden, Carrie, McGill, Thorpe = more than okay
WR is a need as we do not have a #1, our two best WRs – Streater coming off a foot injury-status unknown & Jones has great hands yet is a step slower
DE is a major need as Tuck is our best and he is good, with his age though he is becoming for of a run stopping DE than a pass rushing DE, Harris is our wild card – could be excellent could be nothing more than a 7th round draft pick
G we are solid at with Gabe, yet empty with the other position that is easily fixable with a solid signing